Elymus scribneri grows in rocky areas in open subalpine and alpine regions, at 2500-3200 m, often in windswept locations, in southwestern Alberta and the western United States . It is often confused with E. elymoides , but differs from that species in having only one spikelet per node, wider glumes, and more tardily disarticulating rachises. It also resembles E. sierrae , from which it differs in its disarticulating rachises, denser spikes, and shorter anthers.

Several taxonomists have suggested that Elymus scribneri consists of fertile hybrids between E. violaceus -and E. elymoides . This suggestion is supported by the frequency with which the three taxa are sympatric, the morphological variation exhibited by E. scribneri, and cytogenetic data (Dewey 1967).